Metallic railroad tie



Oct. 2, 1945. A. EZELL METALLIC RAILROAD TIE Filed May 24, 1943 ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 2, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT orrics 2,386,100 METALLIC RAILROAD TIE.

\ Augustus L. Ezell, Birmingham, Ala.

Application May 24, 1943, Serial No. 488,152 2 Claims. (01. 2% 59) This invention relates to metallic railroad ties, the main object being to produce an all metal tie with qualities aproaching the main features of a wood tie, and for Specially overcoming the weakness of fatigue in metal ties. Other novel features consist of reinforcing portions integral with the main body of the tie and being directly be-' neath the top face where the rails are set, thus to give strength and also provide a thickness to permit Welding on fasteners to hold the rails in place.

An outstanding novel feature of the present invention comprises a plurality of slanting corrugations on each side of central portion of side walls of the tie, the corrugations being narrow at the top and spreading out at the bottom to allow more flexibility in the center portion of the tie and thus simulate the bending feature of a wood tie so as to avoid fatigue and rupture.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear from the description, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of features and in the details of construction described and claimed. While the preferred embodiment of the invention is shown herein I do not limit myself to the precise and exact details of same, it being understood that changes and modifications can be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawing, part of this application,

Fig. l is abo-ttom view looking up of exactly half of the tie; Fig. 2 is a top plan view of exactly half of the tie; Fi 3 is a cross section of tie on line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a side elevation of half of tie part broken away on center; Fig. 5 is an enlarged section of tie on line 55 of Fig. 4 less rail, to show thick portion under rail; Fig. 6 is an enlarged section of tie on line 66 of Fig. 4 to show slanting vertical corrugations.

Similar reference numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

By again referring to the drawing it will be observed that the tie consists of a main troughlike body having a flat top I with a depending slanting surrounding wall 2. Directly below the top where the rails rest on the tie thick portions 3 are integral with the main body to afford strength for support of the rails and provide more metal base for welding on rail fasteners. To give the tie strength without having it generally too thick and heavy, longitudinal corrugations 4-!!! are provided. The openings 56 through the top of the tie are for the purpose of inserting and packing ballast. The lower edge 8 of the depending walls is rounded to better retain the ballast. In the center portion of the side walls ofthe tie there are a plurality of slanting or partly perpendicular corrugations 9 -l| for the purpose of allowing the sides to bend freely when a train passes over same. By making these corrugations narrower at the top than at the bottom they afiord more resiliency and flexibility and thus perform similar to a wood tie when a train passes as the weight will cause the tie corrugations to contract at their bottom ends allowing the tie to bend. Fatigue at the center has proven to be the main weak point in metal ties. It is believed that the present invention with its plurality of central slanting or partly perpendicular corrugations will overcome all trouble from fatigue. By having the slanting corrugations broader at the bottom than at the top will result in the bottom ends closing or contracting slightly and thus permitting the tie ends to bend downward when trains pass over them.

Having described my invention I claim:

1. A metallic railroad tie comprising parallel side walls, a plurality of slanting corrugations positioned in the center portion of each side wall, said corrugations extending from the top to the bottom of said walls and being wider at their bottom ends than at theirtop ends.

2. A metallic railroad tie comprising an inverted trough shaped elongated body with fiat top with depending angular sides and ends; a plurality of slanting corrugations positioned in the center portion of each said side wall, each of said corrugations being narrower at its top than at its bottom, an equal number of said corrugations being on each side of the perpendicular center of said side walls.

AUGUSTUS L. EZELL. 

